Joining a month-long interfaith call for comprehensive climate change and clean energy legislation, the Religious Action Center today sent a letter of support to all members of the Senate.
The Reform Movement is one of many faith communities urging the Senate to pass comprehensive and equitable legislation that guards our planet and its inhabitants, especially the most vulnerable, from the effects of environmental degradation. You can add your voice to the mix by writing to Congress now to demand comprehensive climate and energy legislation.
Today’s letter, signed by our Director, Rabbi David Saperstein, highlights the need to act urgently and ensure that legislation is guided by principles of sustainability, stewardship, and social justice. Full text of the letter is after the jump:
Dear Senator,
On behalf of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), whose more
than 900 congregations across North America encompass 1.5 million
Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR),
whose membership includes over 1800 Reform rabbis, I urge you to make
passage of comprehensive climate and energy legislation a priority this
year.This month we join with a diverse faith-based coalition
urging Congress to work swiftly to enact legislation that will
drastically reduce global warming pollution and ensure that all people
are protected from the impacts of climate change. It is past time for
the Senate to address this environmental, economic, public health, and
security challenge, and make our nation a global environmental and
clean energy leader.Comprehensive climate legislation should be rooted in the
principles of stewardship, sustainability, and social justice,
protecting both God’s creation and all people, especially those most
vulnerable to the effects of both climate change and new energy
policies. First and foremost, climate legislation must set ambitious,
science-based targets for reducing global warming pollution and rapidly
increasing clean energy production. To honor our call from the Book of
Genesis “to till and to tend” our world, we call for climate
legislation that responds to the scientific consensus that warming
greater than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels could be
catastrophic for our planet and for millions of people worldwide.Meeting this goal requires that the government maintain the
ability to enforce existing legislation, and that we avoid
short-sighted and unsustainable energy alternatives. We are discouraged
by the efforts of some in the Senate to attack our most effective
environmental laws and agencies and urge you to oppose any attempts,
either through comprehensive climate legislation or stand-alone bills,
to obstruct or delay the EPA in acting to protect human and ecological
health by regulating global warming pollution under the Clean Air Act.Further, our community strongly opposes expanding oil and
natural gas drilling off our nation’s shores, in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, and in other ecologically sensitive areas. Simply
transitioning to domestic fossil fuel sources is a short-sighted
non-solution that will not yield the resources to meet long-term energy
needs, spur sustained economic growth, or ensure the environmental
protection that will derive from moving to a truly clean and
sustainable energy economy.Protecting those living in poverty must also be a central
principle of climate legislation. In addition to aid for consumers in
the U.S., climate legislation must provide adaptation assistance for
the world’s most vulnerable communities in developing nations who are
already facing climate change impacts that threaten food security and
economic development. Several public and private studies estimate that
at least $25 billion per year will be needed to meet this need. As the
largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases and a global economic
leader, our nation has a commensurate responsibility to help the
poorest people adapt to climate change. This is not only a moral issue
but a prerequisite to achieving an international climate agreement,
without which the global community will be unable to meet the climate
challenge.We are inspired by our tradition to fight for a climate and
energy future that protects our earth and all of its inhabitants. Our
sages remind us to “Take care, lest you spoil and destroy my world,
because if you do, there is no one after you to make it right again”
(Kohelet Rabbah 7:13). We are also taught that “If all the sufferings
and pain in the world were gathered on one side of the scale, and
poverty was on the other side, poverty would outweigh them all” (Exodus
Rabbah 31:14). As people of faith, we urge you to join us in working
toward a healthier and safer environment and seeking justice for those
most in need through climate and energy legislation that safeguards our
planet and creates sustainable pathways to prosperity for all people.This year, you have an historic opportunity to put our nation
on the course to a more sustainable and equitable energy and
environmental future, and we applaud those who are working to move
climate legislation forward. At this critical moment, the Reform Jewish
community urges you to protect our environment and all of its
inhabitants by working toward passage of strong, equitable,
comprehensive climate legislation in 2010.